Offering India’s rich handicraft heritage and making it accessible for visitors and tourists to experience, the government has showcased spectacular forms of Channapatna Toys, Rosewood inlay craft among others that have been thriving for centuries around the city of Mysuru.

In the Dekho Apna Desh webinar series, Tourism Ministry presented ‘Mysuru: Craft Caravan of Karnataka’ to the participants highlighting the richness of India's looms and craft forms.

Presenting the Dekho Apna Desh session to the stakeholders, NIFT Director Susan Thomas, Faculty NIFT Bengaluru Yathindra Lakkanna and Shipra Roy underlined the richness of India’s craft and the need to build an alternate narrative around craft tourism and help indigenous craft find a spot on the tourist map.

The presentation also unveiled the opportunities for visitors to Mysuru to travel behind-the-scenes, to the towns and villages of crafts people, who have helped preserve and nurture varied craft forms for Mysuru.

According to Tourism Ministry, crafts are not only integral to India’s rich heritage and culture, they can become a central part of India's economy.

In keeping with the Prime Minister’s call for ‘Atmanirbar Bharat’, the promotion of ‘Craft Tourism’ aims to support communities, provide employment and foster social integration without compromising on the environmental concerns and thus providing unique experiences to the tourists.

The traditional crafts of India have the potential to make the villages and towns an economic powerhouse.

The Dekho Apna Desh webinar series, launched on 14 April 2020, till date has conducted 19 sessions showcasing the varied tourism products and experiences that India offers across the country.

The popular webinar series has attracted a viewership of 86,456 persons till date.

The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) created by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has been playing a pivotal role in supporting the Tourism Ministry in conducting of the Dekho Apna Desh webinars by providing technical assistance directly with a professional team thereby ensuring effective citizen engagement and communication with all stakeholders using the digital experience platform.

The Ministry of Tourism is looking to have a Distinct Brand identity for ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ campaign by developing a logo based on creative inputs from the citizens of the country through the Dekho Apna Desh Logo design Contest on mygov.in.

The contest closes on 16 May 2020. The sessions of webinars are now available here and also on all social media handles of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.